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Broadly, my research concerns African Diasporic subject formation, migration, and the negotiation of globalized structural inequalities. Situating these processes within the specificities of national and international political moments, I explore questions of social hierarchy and diversity within the African Diaspora. I am particularly interested in the social and economic conditions under which racialized subjects assert their cultural identities and how such assertions shift over time. I have conducted research in eastern Cuba among people of English-speaking Caribbean descent in which I explore narratives of “jamaicano” identity and the reemergence of Anglophone Caribbean institutions during Cuba’s Special Period. I have also conducted research in the urban United States and am intrigued by the extent to which racialized categories are disrupted and/or reinforced by the globalization and mass consumption of multi-rooted black popular culture. Thus, in addition to forthcoming chapters on West Indian Cuban cultural citizenship and negotiating racial and national identity in the field, I have published work exploring the social context in which recurrent images in mainstream hip hop culture are disseminated.

I have taught courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. My courses include: Intra-Caribbean migration, Latin American migration to the U.S., Race and Revolution in Cuba, the African Diaspora in Latin America, and Cultures of the Caribbean. Whether teaching courses that relate directly to my own research or those that more broadly address key topics in African Diaspora Studies and Cultural Anthropology, I adopt an interdisciplinary, student-centered approach. My primary goals are to: 1) facilitate students’ critical engagement with a range of texts, 2) assist them in developing their research and writing skills, 3) expose them to innovative ethnographic methodologies, and 4) provide mentorship. In the classroom, I incorporate techniques designed to use writing as a tool for learning as well as group work and peer feedback to support the development of critical thinking skills.